Trump's Thanksgiving Messages

Two National Guard members, who shouldn't have been in harm's way,* were shot in D.C. Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, has died. Or, as the NYT dubiously phrased it, "succumbed to her wounds."  

(Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, remained in critical condition on Thursday after undergoing surgery.)  

Of course, Trump and company exploited this. First, more troops will be sent, which is akin to filling a hole by digging deeper. Second, it was used for by now mundanely horrible attacks on ("Third World") immigrants. 

Trump's comments on Thanksgiving included calling Gov. Tim Walz (who has a disabled son) "seriously retarded.") and crude attacks on the cultural/religious garb of a member of Congress (no kewpie doll for correctly citing the person).

His attack on "anti-American" types is rather ironic. Trump's official Thanksgiving message had the not ideal mix of religious and partisan messaging. 

His secondary message is much worse, including the usual unhinged references to the "Autopen approval process." Where's the 25th Amendment when you need it? 

The suspect is "an Afghan man who once served in an anti-Taliban force supported by the C.I.A." (to quote a NYT article). See also this report on how veterans are disproportionately on death row. 

Trump blamed Biden for the suspect obtaining refugee status, though he came here this year during the Trump Administration. The fact that President Biden provided refuge for "anti-Taliban forces supported by the C.I.A.," generally speaking, is "duh" territory. 

(Surely, any refugee program should have some safeguards. But now that we have Trump in power, surely, that will be covered too, correct?)

Trump's conveniently on-brand anti-certain-immigrants response to a special type of refugee/immigrant is a problem even without all the other baggage involved in the message. The ability to obtain the support of other nations when we need it will meanwhile be made that much harder. 

Anyway, I look forward to his Christmas Message, which will surely make King Herod (whose physical and mental state near the end was iffy) proud.

(Portrayed by Antonio Banderas in Journey to Jerusalem, a musical version of the Nativity Story.)

Some will continue to say "I voted for this." Others who did will be concerned while their Republican representatives do little or nothing in response. 

I understand those who see a possible light at the end of the tunnel, including the 2026 elections. But, at risk of violating Godwin's Law (which is not violated when the reference is correctly applied), the Germans continued to cause damage until May 1945.

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Note: Chris Geidner, the author of that discussion, resides in D.C. He did not use the term "jackbooted thugs," which some might recall from back in the day.

His concern about not needlessly placing civil or military personnel in harm's way, however, does have a broad application. The same applies to the use of force overall, which sometimes will result in needless tragedy. Conservatives and libertarians, somewhat selectively, are concerned with such things.